Category Archives: Uncategorized

MIKHAIL KAUFMAN: portraits

Posted on 04/05/2022 by Opinionated Designer

Dziga Vertov’s experimental film ‘Man with a Movie Camera’ (VUFKU 1929) portrays a day in the life of an unnamed Soviet city in 1928. Filming the activities of its inhabitants at work and play the cinematographer (and Vertov’s brother) Mikhail … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema, Constructivism, Dziga Vertov, Film studios, Man with a Movie Camera, Photography, silent film, Soviet film, Ukraine, Uncategorized | Tagged City symphony, Dziga Vertov, Elizaveta Svilova, Mikhail Kaufman, Photography, Soviet silent film, Ukrainian film, VUFKU | Comments Off

VUFKU 100

Posted on 13/03/2022 by Opinionated Designer

100th anniversary of the All-Ukrainian Photo Cinema Administration The All-Ukrainian Photo Cinema Adminstration (Vse-Ukrains’ke Foto Kino Upravlinnia, ВУФКУ – Всеукраїнське фоtокіноуправління) was founded on the 13th March 1922 by the National Commissar of Education of the Ukrainian SSR. Lenin realised … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema, Constructivism, Dziga Vertov, Film studios, Man with a Movie Camera, silent film, Soviet film, Ukraine, Uncategorized | Tagged Goskino, Man with a Movie Camera, Oleksandr Dovzhenko, Oleksandr Dovzhenko Centre, silent film, Soviet silent film, Sovkino, Soyuzkino, Ukrainfilm, Ukrainian cinema, VUFKU | Comments Off

Rodchenko’s Birthday

Posted on 05/12/2021 by Opinionated Designer

С Днем Рождения Александр Михайлович! Rodchenko in his Productivist work suit, folded parts of the Spatial Construction sculptures in the background, c1924. Photograph by Mikhail Kaufman. Aleksandr Mikhailovich Rodchenko was born in St Petersburg on the 5th December 1891 (New … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Cameras, Constructivism, Design, Graphic Design, Leica, Photography, product design, Uncategorized | Tagged Constructivism, Photography, Soviet Union | Comments Off

MAN WITH A MOVIE CAMERA: trainspotting!

Posted on 11/12/2020 by Opinionated Designer

‘Long live the poetry of the propelling and propelled machine, the poetry of levers, wheels, and steel wings1, the iron screech of movements, the dazzling grimaces of red-hot jets.’ From: ‘We. A Version of a Manifesto’, Dziga Vertov, Kino-Fot no. … Continue reading →

Posted in Camera, Cameras, Cinema, Constructivism, Dziga Vertov, Man with a Movie Camera, silent film, Soviet film, Steam locomotives, Uncategorized | Tagged agit train, Debrie Parvo camera, Dziga Vertov, Elizaveta Svilova, Man with a Movie Camera, Mikhail Kaufman, Soviet locomotives, Steam trains in Russia, Trains in Man with a Movie Camera | Comments Off

MAN WITH A MOVIE CAMERA: reflections

Posted on 24/11/2020 by Opinionated Designer

Studying ‘Man with a Movie Camera’ carefully, shot by shot, for two previous posts on the locations and cameras, I was struck by the repetition of reflected and reversed images throughout the film from the first dramatic view of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Camera, Cameras, Cinema, Constructivism, Dziga Vertov, Man with a Movie Camera, silent film, Soviet film, Uncategorized | Tagged Cine-Eye, Debrie Parvo, Dziga Vertov, кино-глаз, Elizaveta Svilova, Flopped Shot, Kinamo, Kino-Eye, Kino-Glaz, Krauss Zeiss Tessar lens, Left-Right Reversal, Man with a Movie Camera, Mikhail Kaufman, Mirror reversal, Reflected shots | Comments Off

MAN WITH A MOVIE CAMERA: the first cinema screening

Posted on 24/09/2020 by Opinionated Designer

In the spring of 1927 Dziga Vertov* moved to Kyiv to work for VUFKU, the All-Ukrainian Photo Cinema Adminstration (Vse-Ukrains’ke Foto Kino Upravlinnia, ВУФКУ – Всеукраїнське фоtокіноуправління) after being sacked by Sovkino, the Russian equivalent, for being over budget on … Continue reading →

Posted in Camera, Cameras, Cinema, Constructivism, Design, Dziga Vertov, Man with a Movie Camera, Photography, silent film, Soviet film, Uncategorized | Tagged Berlin, Der Mann mit der Kamera, Dziga Vertov, Elizaveta Svilova, Express Cinema, Film und Foto Exhibition, Goskino No. 1 Cinema, Goskino No. 2 Cinema, Hermitage Cinema, K. Liebnecht Cinema, Kharkiv, Kharkiv Historical Museum, Kyiv, Man with a Movie Camera, Marmorhaus Cinema, Mikhail Kaufman, Moscow, Museum of Moscow, Odesa, Oleksandr Dovzhenko Centre, Palace Hotel, Shantser Cinema, Tverskaia 46 Cinema, VUFKU | Comments Off

MAN WITH A MOVIE CAMERA: the film locations

Posted on 29/06/2020 by Opinionated Designer

1929 poster for the film by the Stenberg brothers Dziga Vertov’s 1929 experimental masterpiece ‘Man with a Movie Camera’ [Человек с кино аппаратом, Chelovek s kino apparatom (R), Людина з кіноапаратом, Lyudyna z kinoaparatom (U)], along with Eisenstein’s ‘Battleship Potemkin’, … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Cinema, Constructivism, Design, silent film, Soviet film, Uncategorized | Tagged Arcadia Beach, Bakhmetevsky Bus Garage, Bolshoi Theatre, Debrie Parvo movie camera, Documentary film, Donbass, Dziga Vertov, Elizaveta Svilova, Experimental film, Film locations, Kiev, Kulyanik, Kuznetsky Most, Man with a Movie Camera, Man with a Movie Camera film locations, Man with a Movie Camera locations, Mikhail Kaufman, Moscow, Odessa, Photography, Potemkin Stairs, Soviet Silent Movies, Strastnaya Square, The Eleventh Year, Volkhov Hydroelectric Plant | Comments Off

MAN WITH A MOVIE CAMERA: the film locations

Posted on 29/06/2020 by Opinionated Designer

1929 poster for the film by the Stenberg brothers ‘We leave the film studio for life, for that whirlpool of colliding visible phenomena, where everything is real, where people, tramways, motorcycles, and trains meet and part, where each bus follows … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Cinema, Constructivism, Design, Dziga Vertov, Man with a Movie Camera, silent film, Soviet film, Uncategorized | Tagged Arcadia Beach, Bakhmetevsky Bus Garage, Bolshoi Theatre, Boulevard Stairs, Coal Mine, Debrie Parvo movie camera, Documentary film, Donbas, Donbass, Donetsk, Dziga Vertov, Eisenstein, Elizaveta Svilova, Experimental film, Film locations, Iron foundry, Kamianske, Kiev, Kinamo, Kulyanik, Kuznetsky Most, Kyiv, Man with a Movie Camera, Mikhail Kaufman, Moscow, Odesa, Photography, Potemkin Stairs, Pushkins'ka Street, Soviet Silent Movies, Steelworks, Strastnaya Square, The Eleventh Year, Tverskaya, Volkhov Hydroelectric Plant | Comments Off

Adriano Olivetti

Posted on 27/02/2020 by Opinionated Designer

Adriano Olivetti in memoriam 11th April 1901 – 27th February 1960 A film about the greatest industrialist of them all: https://youtu.be/Ax_zKlnSxHE

Posted in Architecture, Art, Computers, Design, Housing, Housing Design, Personal Computers, product design, Typewriters, Uncategorized | Tagged Adriano Olivetti, Architecture, Design, Design Italiano, Industrial design, Italian design, Italy, Ivrea, Olivetti, Typewriters | Comments Off

Why is Computer Design stuck in the 1950s?

Posted on 04/04/2018 by Opinionated Designer

Compared to my first computer, an Apple Macintosh 128K, the modern device has an awesome amount of computing power. I have just bought a Hewlett Packard ‘All-in-One’ PC with wireless keyboard and mouse, 24″ screen, 8GB of RAM and … Continue reading →

Posted in Computers, Design, Personal Computers, product design, Uncategorized | Tagged Computer design, Design, Hewlett Packard, Industrial design, McAfee, McAfee LiveSafe, Microsoft, Windows 10 | Comments Off

The movie cameras in Man with a Movie Camera

Posted on 26/02/2018 by Opinionated Designer

Dziga Vertov’s 1929 masterpiece ‘Man with a Movie Camera’ is a staple of film studies courses and has been analysed and written about countless times. What has had no attention, surprisingly, is the actual equipment used on and in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Cameras, Cinema, Photography, silent film, Uncategorized | Tagged Abel Gance, Alexander Rodchenko, cine camera, Debrie, Debrie Grande Vitesse, Debrie GV, Debrie Le Parvo, Debrie Sept, Debrie tripod, Dziga Vertov, Eduard Tisse, Elizaveta Svilova, Emile Labrely, Ica Kinamo, Kino Eye, Kino Glaz, Kinok, Le Parvo, Man with a Movie Camera, Mikhail Kaufman, Sergei Eisenstein, silent film, Silent film camera, Stenberg brothers, Varvara Stepanova, Zeiss Ikon Kinamo | Comments Off

MAN WITH A MOVIE CAMERA: the movie cameras

Posted on 26/02/2018 by Opinionated Designer

1929 poster for the film by the Stenberg brothers Dziga Vertov’s 1929 masterpiece ‘Man with a Movie Camera’ is a staple of film studies courses and has been analysed and written about countless times. What has had no attention, surprisingly, … Continue reading →

Apple Park

Posted on 24/07/2017 by Opinionated Designer

Steven Levy of Wired magazine was invited in for a tour of the vast new Apple headquarters building in Cupertino, California, designed by Foster and Partners. Opened in April 2017 the building has cost a reported $5 billion, and the … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Building, Computers, Construction, Design, Olivetti, Personal Computers, Uncategorized | Tagged Apple HQ, Apple Park, Foster and Partners, Foxconn, Jony Ives, Pegatron | Comments Off

Archispeak #1 – TEA, Tenerife

Posted on 11/01/2017 by Opinionated Designer

WHAT ARCHITECTS SAY VERSUS THE REALITY! Tenerife Espacio de las Artes, Santa Cruz de Tenerife 2008 ARCHITECTS: Herzog & De Meuron, project directed by the Canarian architect Virgilio Gutiérrez ARCHITECTS: “…..A new public path diagonally cuts through the building complex connecting the … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Blots on the Cityscape, Blots on the Townscape, Building, Design, Spanish Architecture, Ugly Buildings, Uncategorized | Tagged Herzog & De Meuron, Modern Plaza, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, TEA, Tenerife architecture, Tenerife Espacio de las Artes | Comments Off

Dismal Designs – Nikon D5

Posted on 30/10/2016 by Opinionated Designer

In complete contrast to my previous post……. The grotesque looking D5 is the epitome of everything I loathe about the current offering of DSLR cameras. It is the Mr Creosote* of cameras, a misshapen lump with buttons, lids, and switches scattered at … Continue reading →

Posted in Camera, Cameras, Design, Japanese Design, Photography, Uncategorized | Tagged Cameras, Canon EOS, Design, DSLR, Japanese cameras, Japanese DSLR, Nikon D5, Photography, Product design | Comments Off

Delightful Designs – 1946 SIRIO Elettra II camera

Posted on 10/10/2016 by Opinionated Designer

As well as being a Leica fan I’m also intrigued by the many ‘Look-a-Leicas’ that mostly appeared in the decade after WW2. The launch of the first Leica in 1925 caused a sensation, changing the way people took photographs. Tens … Continue reading →

Posted in Camera, Cameras, Design, Italian Design, Leica, Photography, product design, Uncategorized | Tagged Cameras, Copy Leicas, Design, FED cameras, Italian cameras, Leica cameras, Leica copies, Photography, Product design, SIRIO Elettra II | Comments Off

Japanese Style

Posted on 22/07/2016 by Opinionated Designer

I took this photograph in Gion, the historic part of the city centre in Kyoto. Not posed at all, they were just walking down the street, totally absorbed in each other. Over the past decade it has become quite common to see … Continue reading →

Posted in Fashion, Japan, Uncategorized | Tagged Gion, Inu-yarai, Kimono, Kyoto, Traditional Japanese clothing | Comments Off

Whistler’s Haircut

Posted on 27/04/2016 by Opinionated Designer

James Abbott McNeil Whistler (1834-1903) was one of the greatest artists of the late nineteenth century, and the finest etcher since Rembrandt. An expatriate American, he had a huge influence on the cultural world of London and Paris, friends with … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Uncategorized | Tagged Art for art's sake, James Abbott McNeil Whistler, Mortimer Menpes, Victorian artists, Whistler | Comments Off

Beyond The Dreaming Spires

Posted on 11/04/2016 by Opinionated Designer

THE OTHER OXFORD, FAR FROM THE TOURIST TRAIL Mention Oxford to most people and an image of beautiful golden stone buildings with spires and domes comes to mind. The High Street or ‘The High’ is surely one of the most … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Blots on the Cityscape, Blots on the Townscape, Building, Housing, Housing Design, Oxford, Ugly Buildings, Uncategorized | Tagged 1930s semis, Dreaming Spires, Oxford, Oxford buildings, pre-war housing, urban sprawl | Comments Off

Leica 1 Model C – The First System Camera

Posted on 29/02/2016 by Opinionated Designer

The renowned optical instrument firm of Ernst Leitz of Wetzlar in Germany produced the first modern camera in 1925, the Leica 1 Model A. Designed by two brilliant engineers, Oskar Barnack and Max Berek, it revolutionised photography by using 35mm … Continue reading →

Posted in 1930s photography, Camera, Cameras, Design, Photography, Uncategorized | Tagged Alexander Rodchenko, Andre Kertesz, Elmar, Hektor, Leica, Leica 1 Model C, Leica Accessories, Leica Catalogue, Leitz, Max Berek, Oskar Barnack, Paul Wolff | Comments Off

Blot on the Historic Townscape

Posted on 21/02/2016 by Opinionated Designer

King’s Lane Development, Cambridge, UK (1967) – Architect: James Cubitt & Partners There are so many third-rate modern buildings around they just blend into the background, but sometimes you come across one that is so crass, ugly, and ridiculous that … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Blots on the Townscape, Building, Ugly Buildings, Uncategorized | Tagged Alan Turing, Cambridge, Cambridge Architecture, James Cubitt, King's College, King's Lane, King's Lane development | Comments Off

Dismal Designs – The Hearing Aid

Posted on 09/01/2016 by Opinionated Designer

WHY ARE HEARING AIDS SO BADLY DESIGNED AND OVER-PRICED? An elderly relation of mine has some Starkey 3 Series hearing aids which cost an extraordinary £2,500 ($3,600)! Apart from the outrageous price, of which more later, this is one of the most … Continue reading →

Posted in Design, product design, Uncategorized | Tagged Hearing aids, Starkey hearing aids | Comments Off

Category Archives: Uncategorized

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